The episodes to be aired in May and the selectors for " GeGeGe no Kitaro : My Favorite GeGeGe Episodes," a program that will air episodes selected by famous people associated with Kitaro from seasons 1 to 6 of the TV anime " GeGeGe no Kitaro ," based on the manga by the late Shigeru Mizuki, have been announced.
The fifth episode, which will air on May 4th, will feature episode 22 of season 5, "A Fake Kitaro Appears!!," selected by Ado, the singer who sang the opening theme song for "GeGeGe no Kitaro." The sixth episode, which will air on the 11th, will feature episode 21 of season 4, "The Powdered Old Woman and the Faceless Man," selected by Yoko Matsuoka, who played Kitaro in season 4. The seventh episode, which will air on the 18th, will feature episode 2 of season 3, "The Mirror GeGeGe no Kitaro GeGeGe no Kitaro no Kitaro: The Millennium Curse Song." The eighth episode, which will air on the 25th, will feature episode 26 of season 5, "A Yokai Idol!? Amabie," selected by Minami Takayama, who played Kitaro in season 5.
It was also announced that a new opening video created by the main staff of the animated film "The Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe" will be broadcast from May 4th. Director Koga Go and character designer Toko Yatabe participated. The video expresses the transition from Showa to Heisei and Reiwa with things that symbolize each era, including a scene of people wearing masks on a train and operating their smartphones. In addition to Kitaro from each season, familiar characters such as Medama Oyaji, Ratman, and Neko Musume also make an appearance. At the end, a scene is shown in which Kitaro from seasons 1 to 6 gather together, smiling and holding hands.
"GeGeGe no Kitaro: My Beloved GeGeGe" will feature favorite episodes selected by the gorgeous voice actors who played Kitaro in the past, such as Masako Nozawa, Keiko Toda, Matsuoka, Takayama, and Miyuki Sawashiro, as well as famous people who have a connection to Kitaro. It is broadcast every Sunday at 9:00 a.m. on Fuji TV and other stations.
"GeGeGe no Kitaro" is a manga in which the main character Kitaro faces various incidents with his unique fellow monsters, Ratman and Sunakakebaara. The first season of the TV anime was broadcast in 1968-69, and it has been loved for over half a century since then. The sixth season, the first new work in about nine years since the fifth season, was broadcast on Fuji TV and other stations from April 2018 to March 2020, and became a hot topic for its depiction of black companies, social media addiction, immigration issues, etc., and Neko Musume with a model figure, also gained popularity. The movie version "Birth of Kitaro: The Mystery of GeGeGe," which was released in November 2023, was selected as the Outstanding Animation Award at the 47th Japan Academy Awards.
